Split Destinies Book 1
by MarigoldWolf
Summary: Post Book series with different ending. Darren Shan has been through so much during his years as a vampire. But when he dies in his world, he finds himself in another that's much different than his own. Story better than summary. Prologue is a bit dark. Darren/Korra; past mentions of Darren/Debbie and Darren/OC
1. Prologue

**A/N 1: First time I've tried writing something like this. Now while this DOES have some OCs in it, they aren't too focused on as I would usually do in my stories. Next one I do of this crossover won't have any in them if you would rather wait for that one to be put up. If not, then enjoy this story! ^^**

**A/N 2: Also, sorry if the prologue is a bit dark.**

**Prologue- Ends and New Beginnings:**

_I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. This couldn't be happening. Not again. Not when we are so close to finishing this war. "CATHY!"_

_Two figures come into my vision. One of them I recognize as Carlos, Cathy's twin brother. The other is Daria, my twin sister. Once getting up close, I saw the state Carlos was in. He had huge gashes on most of his upper body and part of his neck. Daria was cleaning him up and trying to bandage him the best she could. He was looking down when he spotted me._

"_Dar...ren?" he rasped. His voice sounded scratchy. Could the gash on his neck slightly hit his vocal cords?_

"_Carlos, where's...?" I trailed off, suspecting the worse._

_His good and blind eyes widened before he looked away from me. "I'...m...sor...ry..."_

"_No..." I kept going, hoping to any of the gods listening that I'll be able to save her._

_I reached the carnage. While it was mostly the black blood of the demon Kurojaki...I could distinctly see the normal red coloring. "Cathy!? Cathy! Cat-" I stopped once I spotted a figure lying on its side._

No...No, this can't be happening! T-This has to be a bad dream!_ I thought, rushing up to her. Rolling her over, I pulled her up to me._

_Her eyes slightly opened. She's still alive! "Cat..?" I asked. "You're going to be okay, right?" It was like I was trying to deny what was going on._

_She gave a small, sad smile. She brought up a hand covered in her and Kurojaki's blood. "Darren..." I was half-expecting for some snarky remark like "you expect THIS to kill me?" or even "I'm not made of glass." But the next thing I got was... "I'm sorry..."_

_Then her hand dropped, eyes closed, and her breathing stopped completely. She was gone...like so many others..._

"_No...no no no, dammit, WHY?!" I yelled, slamming a fist on the ground. I glared up at the sky. "Do you ENJOY tormenting me?! Why did you take away the important people in my life, huh?!"_

_No replies...but what was I expecting anyway? The tears started to flow freely as I held the dead Lycan closer to me. She was gone...and there was nothing I could do to bring her back..._

_Days blended into weeks and then months. I didn't seem capable of keeping track of time anymore. The hurt was worse than when Mr. Crepsley had died. No one could pull me out of this depression. Not Daria...not Carlos...not Debbie...not anyone..._

_A lot of my friends were starting to keep a close eye on me, on the off chance I did something drastic. While it would release me from this pain, I don't seem to even think much of doing it. Well, that is...not until I overhear a certain conversation._

"_Gods, what are we going to do with him?" I heard Dianna sigh. I had been wandering aimlessly down the halls of Lycan Mountain (they decided to keep me here as I wasn't too keen about being around that many vampires yet)._

"_Di, he's going through a lot of pain right now. More so than when Crepsley had died," Flint replied. While he was a vampaneze, he had defected from the clan years back._

"_I realize that, but...it's just...it's like he's practically died and can't be brought back! I doubt even talking with Truska again would help..."_

"_I know what you mean. But at least we still have a chance to snap him out of it. If he knew about Cathy's condition..." Condition? What is he...?_

"_Flint, I think part of us saw it coming. And even then, I doubt we were really and truly expecting it either."_

"_Yeah. It was a double loss for him. Both Cathy and their unborn."_

_The words shocked me and something inside my mind had snapped. _Cathy...had been pregnant..? And with my...? _It was those news that had sent me over the edge. I ran back toward my room._

_My mind was completely blank. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground with a pain in my chest. I could hear the others yelling frantically. Everything faded to black._

"_**No...You weren't supposed to remember..."**_

"AAAAAHHHHH!" I cried out, bolting upright. I couldn't see anything at first which was really freaking me out.

"You're awake! Are you alright?" an unknown voice asked.

Only one thought was going through my head...so I voiced it. "W...Where am I..?"


	2. Chapter 1

_** A/N: This chapter takes place a year after the prologue.**_

**Chapter One- Welcome to Republic City:**

_Things have definitely changed for me,_ I thought while looking toward the city. _It had been a year since my arrival here and I was still trying to get used to everything. About the only thing I can lie back on is that I at least have Cathy's elemental spirits with me...along with her spirit guides, of course._

Sighing, I got down from my perch and decided to head into the city to get my mind off of things. _Let me help with the recap. A year ago, I had woken up in a hospital in Republic City. Apparently, I was found unconscious on a beach just outside the city and was brought there a few days before I woke up. Once I had, I was questioned by Chief Lin Beifong._

_Of course...answering the questions were a bit hard as I had no knowledge of the world I had ended up in or how I got here. The only things I could tell them was what I remembered...which was a lot considering that I had been older than I looked as a vampire. Though, it wasn't very believable at first and I admit, if I had heard some random strange telling the same tales, I'd have questioned their sanity too._

_But, I guess that was all they had to take. Especially since I still had all the scars from my years of being a part of a clan of the night. It seemed like I hadn't stayed a vampire, thankfully, since I managed to stay in sunlight without getting burnt. The only things reminding me of what I had been were the memories of it along with scars. Scars I could handle...it was the memories that were slowly eating away at me._

_After I got released came another problem...where would I stay? I didn't know anyone from this place or even had the money to rent a place to stay at. I got lucky since-_

The commotion caught my attention, snapping me out of my thoughts. _Okay...introductions later, then._ "Falc, little bit of flying help?" I asked.

He appeared on my shoulder. Falc had been one of Cathy's many spirit guides and usually helped with getting to places she couldn't get on foot. Since I'm not a vampire any longer, I have to rely on him for fast transportation. _"You got it!"_ he replied, flying off my shoulder and changing to a larger form. I jumped onto his back as he took off.

I looked down toward the ground. I saw what was causing the problem. "Falc, I'm going to need you to get me down to the ground, okay?"

"_Geez, now I wish you did keep your vampire speed. This is getting ridiculous."_ I rolled my eyes as the spirit falcon angled down.

Once he was low enough, I jumped off of his back. He pulled out of his dive and disappeared into thin air. _Wow, has there ever been a spirit that skittish?_ I thought, dusting off the red coat I was wearing. I liked wearing it for two things: one, it reminded me of my vampire mentor Mr. Crepsley as he had worn red; two, I didn't like having my burn scars (while fading) exposed to everyone.

What had caught my attention from the sky was a polar bear dog that had been running around along with a rider: a young woman about my age with dark skin and wearing water tribe garb. How did I know that? I've been studying like crazy once I managed to get over the initial shock. With a bit of help, of course.

"We'll take one of everything, please," the girl said to the shop owner.

"That'll be twenty yuans," was the reply.

"I...don't have any money." _Ohh boy. Better intervene while I can._

"Ahh, don't worry. I can pay for it, miss," I stated, making myself known finally.

"Oh, no, you don't-"

"Twenty yuans, right?" I pulled out my wallet, getting the amount of money. "There we go." I paid for the order, turning to the girl afterward. "Say something."

She sighed, covering her eyes with a hand. "Never mind..."

"Hey, it's not like I'm asking you to pay me back for this later." I accepted the bags of food and lead the polar bear dog some ways from the stand. I set some of it on the ground.

"Well, um, thanks for the help," the girl said, giving a slight bow.

"Ah, it's nothing. And you don't have to bow. I'm not really used to it." It feels like it's been a decade or two since I was a Vampire Prince.

"I'm Korra, and this is Naga." The polar bear dog, Naga, let out a bark.

"I'm Darren Shan. So...you lost?"

"Is it that obvious?"

I rubbed my chin in mock thought. "Well, considering the little run around back there..."

She held her hands up. "Okay okay, I get it! Think you can show me around?"

"Sure. I've only been here a year, but I know this city like the back of my hand...mostly. Well, I promise I won't get us lost."

"Alright. Well, lead on, Mr. Tour Guide."

"Leading on." I walked on ahead with Korra and Naga following right behind. We had gotten as far as the park when I had realized I forgot to ask where she was heading. "Uhh...stupid question...where in Republic City are you needing to get to?"

"Oh! Right. Well, I'm trying to get to-" Korra started when a megaphone came on. _Oh great, another of these..._

"Are you tired of living under the tyranny of benders?! Then join the Equalists! For too long, the bending elite have forced non-benders to live as lower class citizens," the speaker said. A small crowd had gathered to listen. "Join Amon, and together we will tear down the bending establishment!"

Ugh, I didn't like to listen to a lot of these. It was pretty much about the same thing over and over. While where I had come from definitely did _not_ have bending, I wasn't about to join some people that seemed to be putting anyone down who could bend an element.

"What are you talking about? Bending is the coolest thing in the world," Korra spoke up. Uh-oh...

"Oh yeah? Let me guess, you're a bender?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Then I'd bet you'd just _love_ to knock me off this platform with some waterbending, huh?"

"Uhh, Korra? I think we should be.." I tried to cut in but was ignored.

"I'm seriously thinking about it." She crossed her arms while saying this. I slapped my forehead. _Crap..._

"This is what's wrong with this city! Benders like this girl only use their powers to oppress us!" The crowd that gathered started shouting in agreement with the speaker.

"What! I'm not oppressing anyone! You're...You're oppressing yourself!"

"That didn't even make sense!"

"Okay!" I cut in. "It's time to go now. Come on." I managed to get us out of there before the situation could get a whole lot worse.

"What was all that about?" Korra asked.

"Some group called the Equalists. They're pretty much non-benders who hate anything to do with bending. But I swear they're being a bit extreme about it," I answered, ruffling my hair. Then my bangs got in my eyes. "Son of a-!"

"Needing a haircut?"

I moved my bangs to the side where they had been previously. "Yeah, but I kept forgetting. I think I'll do that once I get back to the island."

"Wait, what?"

"I'm staying at Air Temple Island. Have been for months now."

"That's where I need to go!" She glared at me. "Why didn't you say something earlier?"

I started getting nervous under the glare. "Uhh...you didn't ask?" Charna's guts...I could swear I've seen that glare before... "Um, how about we get going, yeah?"

We kept walking on. _Wonder why she's wanting to head to Air Temple Island..._ I thought as we were heading down one of the streets when the screeching of tires caught my attention. "Shit, don't tell me I walked into this again," I groaned.

"What?" Korra asked, looking down at me from the saddle.

I held up a hand. "Be right back." With that, I started heading for where the red satomobile had parked. I can't believe I accidentally had us walk right into the Triple Threat's territory. The three thugs that had stepped out of the vehicle were harassing a shop keeper. "Hey! Why don't you lot leave the poor man alone for once?"

"Well well, if it isn't the city's crazy man. You still going on about being from a different world?" one of them mocked. Yeah, one reason why I stayed at Air Temple Island mostly was because of that. A lot of people thought and still think I'm crazy.

"Now I'm saying you lot should back off!" My hands clenched into fists. It'd be sooo easy to break his nose. While I didn't have my full vampire strength, I was stronger than a normal human despite how I looked.

"You'll be the one to back off, or else-"

"Or else what, hoodlum?" a new voice said. Standing right behind the thugs was Korra.

"Korra?! What the hell are you doing?!" I hissed.

The three gang members looked at each other before laughing. Then the one I had been talking with spoke. "Since you're obviously fresh off the boat, let me explain a couple of things. You're in Triple Threat Triad territory, and we're about to put you in the hospital."

"You're the ones who're gonna need a hospital. And for your sake, I hope there's one nearby." She started cracking her knuckles near the end.

"Who do you think you are?"

She smirked. "Why don't you come and find out?"

Before I could even stop it, the waterbender thug sent some water at her. She caught it and bent it right back at him, freezing his head in ice. While he staggered around, she kicked him right into the decorative lion-turtle face on the vehicle.

I blinked, surprised. "Nice," I complimented with a grin.

The other two were stunned for a bit until one of them, an earthbender, snapped out of it. He tried to attack only to be sent flying when Korra uses earthbending. My jaw dropped. _Wait a second...did she just...bend TWO elements?!_

I noticed that the waterbender thug had regained consciousness. An idea popped into my head to make sure they wouldn't get too far. I pulled the blue and green wolf head pendant from inside my shirt and whispered, "Sword, I've got a job for you."

_'What is it THIS time, Shan?'_ a voice in my head replied.

"Think you can mess up one or two of the wheels of this satomobile for me?"

_'...FINE...'_ A steel gray wolf with icy blue eyes appeared right beside me, slinking out of view to do what I asked of him. The pendant had belonged to a Lycan by the name of Cathy Wolf at one time. All of the spirits she had, both the elemental and the guides, were still attached to it. I was able to call on them...but there was also a new feature added to that. They could allow me to bend the elements of this world when I needed it. The only one I haven't tried...was fire. For certain reasons.

While I had been distracted, Korra had dealt with the last of the thugs. She was standing in front of the hole that had been made from sending the thug through it. "Got an idea who I am now, chumps?"

I walked up to her side. "By the way, when were you going to let me know you were the Avatar?" I asked, crossing my arms and giving her a look.

She looked at me. "You didn't ask."

"Hey! You stole my-" An engine revving caught our attention. WE both moved out of the way as the vehicle went right past us. I glared ahead. "Sword, I thought I asked you to mess up the wheels."

He trotted up beside me. _"Wait for it..."_

The car swerved around until crashing into another shop. Korra looked at me, shocked. "You didn't tell me you talked with spirits!"

"Technically, they're not the same spirits you'd think of. Also, you didn't ask."

She was about to retort when sirens blared overhead. _"That's my cue to leave. Next time, do your own dirty work, Shan!"_ Sword said as he vanished.

_Yeah yeah, screw you too. Seriously, where did Cat find some of these guys?_ I thought as the officers, metalbenders, descended from the airship in the air above us.

"Cool, metalbenders," Korra said in awe. One of them stopped in front of us. "We caught the bad guys for you, officers." She motioned behind us where the car had crashed.

"Arrest them!" he told the others. The thugs were trapped in the metal wires. He then pointed at us. "You're both under arrest too." Korra gasped.

"What do you mean we're under arrest? Those are the bad guys over there. They were smashing up a shop!"

"Yeah," I agreed. "Plus, technically, we didn't make them crash like they did."

"You can explain yourselves down at headquarters."

"Time to go!" I was jerked back and pulled onto Naga's saddle.

"Ah! Korra! What are you-?!" I yelped as Naga took off. I clutched the back part of the saddle behind me. "I just forgot to mention I get motion sickness easily!"

"Well, you'll have to deal with it!"

"Charna's guts, what did I get myself into this time..?"

Long story short, we still got caught by the police. Korra had been taken to the interrogation room while I was left sitting outside. _I swear, it seems like everything is déjá vu here in this world,_ I thought, trying to keep my head up. _Well, look on the bright side, at least I'm not being framed for murder this time._

Someone cleared their throat, making me tense up. "Darren."

I grinned sheepishly, turning. "Uh, hey...Tenzin," I greeted nervously. "Look, I can totally explain!"

"We'll discuss this later." He walked away.

My head slumped. "Yep, I am so dead...again..."

A bit later, we were at the docks at Air Temple Island after riding a ferry to get there. Korra was to be sent back to the South Pole since she wasn't supposed to have arrived at the city. A bit of a shame. It would have been nice to have someone my age to talk with.

I scratched the back of my head. "I guess my job as your tour guide will be put on hold, huh?" I said, trying to lighten things up.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Well, uh...it was nice meeting you." I held out my hand to shake.

She took it. "You too."

I walked off afterwards, heading to the boy's dorms. A flapping sound came into my hearing and then a voice I didn't want to hear at the moment spoke up. _"Hey, Darren! Sword said you had gotten into another tangle with one of those bending gangs!"_ the owner of the voice, Falc, spoke.

"Not now, Falc," I said in a bit of a growl, swatting him away when he got too close to my personal space.

"_Wow. Haven't seen you this mad for a long while now. I forgot what you were like like that."_ He flew a bit faster to keep up with me. _"So, like, what...get into trouble 'cause you beat them up too badly or-"_

"I said I don't want to talk about it, Falc!"

"_Yeesh, calm down, Shan. Some would think someone made some comment about your accent."_

"What accent?! I don't have one!"

"_Never said ya did. I guess your voice is a bit different than what most people hear, ya know? I bet they'd say that to any of the others if they had ended up here."_

"That doesn't-"

"_AHH! Look out!"_

Before I could even ask, something tackled me down to the ground. "Ow! What the hell hit me this time?!" A woof was my answer. "Wait...is that..?"

"Hey, Darren!"

I managed to push what had tackled me down, Naga, and saw Korra coming up. "Huh?! Korra? But, I thought-"

"Tenzin said I can stay here for airbending training."

"Really? That's great!"

"_Ahem, sorry for interrupting new besties, but you do realize that she's on the wrong side of the place, right?"_ Falc cut in.

"Falc! Get out of here right now, you rainbow flying chicken!" Seriously, why did Cat have to have him as one of her spirit guides?

"_Hey, want people to get the wrong idea?"_

"FALC!"

"_Fine, going! Geez..."_ He flew off after that.

I muttered under my breath. "Annoying little..."

"So...are you going to explain more about that gray wolf or whatever kind of bird that was?" Korra asked.

"Oh. Well, I think I'm going to wait 'til tomorrow. Kinda burnt out all my energy running around the city."

"Hey, you could have walked away at any time."

"Says the girl who didn't give me a chance to say no to a free polar bear dog ride." She rolled her eyes and hit me in the shoulder. "Ow! That's the shoulder that got shot!"

"Shot? Shot by what?"

"Uhh...tell you later. Really tired now. Bye!" I made a dash for the building.

"Hey!"

"Later!"

Next day, I was more or less grounded and wasn't allowed to leave the island for a few days. Which was fine by me as I didn't feel very rested from last night. While I was laying in bed, Falc decided to fly in and land nearby.

"_You know, it's kinda funny,"_ Falc said.

"What is?" I asked, not opening my eyes.

"_You always seem to be a magnet for some very interesting people whether you're in your own world or in some other."_

"I'm not even going to reply to that."

_**A/N: Well, this is it for chapter one. Oh, about the accent thing...every time I hear Darren's voice for this, I have imagined it sounding like **_**Primeval****_'s Connor's voice. So yeah, that's going to be a bit of an inside joke for a while. Updates may take a while as I jump from different episodes a lot. But I'll try to work on the next chapter as soon as I can._**


	3. Chapter 2

_**A/N: And here's chapter two! Actually took longer than expected since my mind didn't want to focus. XD To be honest, while I am pretty much stuck on this crossover, I get distracted as well since I either think of a new one or think of an alternate version of this...or I think of side stories. But without further adieu, here's the chapter!**_

**Chapter Two- Leaf in the Wind:**

"Easy...easy..." I muttered, carefully eying the bangs I held in one hand while the other held a sharp piece of metal Sword gave to me to cut my bangs with.

"_I'm getting really nervous just watching this,"_ Falc said. I could almost see him peeking out from his feathers.

"_Hey, kid's done it before. What says he can't do it again?"_ Sword who was in his wolf form answered.

I bit the inside of my cheek. _To hell with it!_ In one quick motion, I sliced off the bangs without cutting myself on accident. "Oh thank gods I didn't lose a finger..."

"_Geez, Darren! Give me a heart attack why don't ya?"_ Falc emphasized that by putting his wings over his heart. Sword rolled his eyes.

I gave the metal back to Sword. "Thanks for lending me something sharp."

"_No prob."_ He took the metal in his jaws...before eating it. I always wondered how he put away his weapons.

"...okay then...bye." Sword faded out of sight while Falc flew onto my shoulder. "Is that what he does with any bit of metal he makes?"

"_Pretty much. It's very disturbing to be honest. I mean, wouldn't all those weapons put your stomach into knots? Sure, he's a Lycan spirit of metal, but still! Imagine the stomach problems he's got!"_

"Charna's guts, don't you have a mute button somewhere?" I mumbled, walking out of the room as Falc continued to talk my ear off. Why couldn't Cat have picked a _less_ talkative spirit to use for flight or send messages to far-off places? Would have been SO HELPFUL right now...

"_I'm just saying! Uh-oh...someone's in trouble. See ya!"_ He vanished before I could ask him what he meant.

"What was that tur- ah!" I finally realized who he was talking about. I forgot to tell Korra anything when she got back from the press conference, so yeah...I'm in trouble. "Uh...h-hey?"

"Hi," she replied with a bit of a glare and arms crossed.

"...explanation time?"

"Yep."

"Dammit. Alright, let's find a quiet spot and I'll tell you as much as you need to know."

"Sounds good."

**(Scene Shift)**

The secluded place was a cliff that overlooked the bay on the other side of the island. I sat down on the ground with Korra following suit. "Okay, exactly what do you want me to explain?" I sighed.

"Well, for starters, what about that thing of being shot in the shoulder?" she asked.

"Ohh...that...yeah, got shot with an arrow by my nephew."

"What?!"

"I think to better explain, I'd have to start from the beginning. See, where I had been from, I was a vampire. A vampire prince, actually. There had been a war going on during that time and my nephew, Darius, had been thrown into it thanks to his father, Steve."

"Whoa whoa, slow down. You're telling me that you're a...vampire?"

"_Was_ a vampire. Not anymore. If I sill was, I'd be dead. Either from being burnt up in the sun or going without blood for a long time. Catching up a bit?"

"Sort of. What about those spirits? Did you get them through being a vampire?"

"No. They...actually had been a part of someone else I knew and cared for a long time ago. They're what's called from where I'm from Lycan spirits. A good chunk of them are elemental spirits and the rest are more of guides. They can't harm living beings like people or animals. The elemental ones, on the other hand, can and also can give the person they follow their powers. Which is part of the reason Tenzin had taken me in."

"Huh?"

"Well, to sum it up...with the elemental spirits I can contact through this-" I held up the pendant. "-I basically have some of the same abilities as you. Though, I can't go into the Avatar state or use more than one at a time."

"I'm...still a bit confused."

"*sigh* Figured as much. Maybe I should just start with how I became a vampire and go down from there."

And so, I told her my story. I had started with finding the Cirque Du Freak fliers to when I made a deal with Mr. Crepsley and so on. I kept certain parts out, like the couple problems I had been dealing with involving a certain Lycan along with most of what I had to do during my time in my world. I finished with waking up in this world with no clue as to how I got here.

"That's...wow, that's just..." Korra was struggling to find the right words it seemed.

"I know, and most people don't believe it. That's why I rarely venture to the city. At least here, I can keep from really going crazy," I put in.

"I-I didn't mean to make it sound like that! It's just...the thought of a world where there's no bending? Seems really out there if you ask me."

"How do you think I feel, being in this world and _still_ getting used to some things? Though I am thankful that I'm completely mortal...there's a few things I wish I left in my world."

"Like what?" Crap!

"Um...you know...bad memories, regrets, all that. Nothing too serious." I refrained from the memories that haunted me throughout my sleep. Some days it was mild. Others...yeah, you can probably already guess.

"Okay..."

"Still confused?"

"A bit, but I'm going to have to think over all this stuff before you explain anymore. You _sure_ you didn't make it up?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah because I totally got all my scars in some burning building that crashed over my head or something of the sort. Sarcasm aside, they've already checked if I was lying or not. And I'm not, so...yeah."

"Well, I'm still going to think it through. A lot to take in, you know?"

"Yeah." I got up onto my feet. "Just don't keep thinking for too long. You've got airbending practice tomorrow." I walked off with a quick wave.

As I was walking, Falc came back into view with an amused look on his face. If he didn't have a beak, I'm sure he'd be grinning like a maniac. "..do I even _want_ to know what you're thinking?" I asked in a monotone voice.

"_Mm...nothing,"_ he replied.

"...go away..." I kept walking, not even bothering to see if the spirit stayed where he was or flew off.

**(Scene Shift)**

The next day came fairly quick. And thankfully, no nightmares on my part. It was pretty much a dreamless night of sleep, thank the gods...Of course, it could have also have been due to the fact that I laid awake with my eyes open until who knows how late last night.

I yawned, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes with the heel of my hand as I walked out. _Ugh...and I thought I had trouble trying to sleep through snoring comrades,_ I thought sleepily, heading to get some breakfast. _Maybe I should try to knock myself out to sleep._

Since I couldn't leave the island still, I decided to at least practice a bit of fighting and some bending. I managed to remember part of the practice of fighting hand-to-hand combat with no weapons from Vancha's lessons as well as some I picked up from various sparring practices with others. Those I could manage to do with ease. The bending...well, it's gotten better the past few months. Nowhere near an expert's, though.

I started with the combat skills before going to any bending. I didn't want to try anything unless I was fully awake and the hand-to-hand combat was the easiest for me to do. Often times, some of the combat practice included me practicing as if I were on the bars back at Vampire Mountain. Just without the danger of falling off, of course.

Once getting fully awake, I went right into the bending practice. I only had three elements under my belt. As I said earlier, I haven't tried much with firebending. Any time I tried even bending fire...I would freak out. It had to do with my past Hall of Flames trial and the Cavern of Retribution where Mr. Crepsley died. Almost reminded me of how bad Carlos, Cathy's twin brother, used to jump if the flames of a campfire got too close to him.

I quit for the day once evening started to set in. I found Korra trying to airbend before getting frustrated and incinerating the newspaper.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side," I said, causing her to turn to me. "Rough day of training?"

"Yeah. I'm starting to think I'm not cut out to be an airbender," she replied.

"I wouldn't start worrying if I were you. You'll start getting the hang of it soon. Probably a lot faster than when I started training airbending."

"Wait, you went through those gates?"

"Ahh, that contraption...I started calling them the Spinning Gates of Pain after one of those panels broke my nose. I think you can still see blood on it if you look close enough."

"Ouch."

"But hey, if a guy like me who never had bending from where he's from can do it, you shouldn't have any problems getting through that training exercise."

"That's going to leave a lot of questions."

"Really, it wasn't that bad. I mean, we still could defend ourselves. Only with weapons or hand-to-hand combat. The vampires and vampaneze clans, though, were more strict on the weapons part."

"What do you mean?"

"We couldn't use any long-range weapons. So pretty much it was anything that was used in close range combat and not long-range."

"So you're breaking your clan's rules, huh?"

"Wait, what?"

"Your bending. Wouldn't that go against your clan's rules?"

I was about to retort when I stopped and thought about it. Then I glared at her. "Oh, you're good." That made her laugh while I rolled my eyes. "Well, I'm turning in early. See you in the morning." I started heading off.

"Oh, uh, bye."

**(Scene Shift- Dream)**

"_Cat, no! You can't die! You _can't_! Wake up!" I cried, shaking her shoulders._

_Her head just rolled limply, her eyes staying closed. This couldn't be happening. Not when we're so close to ending this war for good! She promised!_

_Suddenly, I could sense a dark presence right behind me. Turning my head, I saw what seemed to be my shadow extending up and standing up on its own. Two glowing orbs stood out on it. **"You shall FALL!"** the shadow shouted before it lunged at me._

**(Scene Shift)**

I bolted upright in bed with a gasp. My heart was racing and a cold sweat dripped down from my face. I let out a breath, trying to calm my body down. _What...What the hell was all that about? I've _never_ had a nightmare like that..._ I thought as I tried and failed to make sense of that dream.

Later, I found myself unable to even do any of the normal training that I do each day. I just sat in a quiet spot for a good portion of the day, holding my head with one hand. I almost didn't hear the footsteps coming up to me.

"Wow, I thought you weren't going to wake up at all," the person, Korra, greeted before sitting down next to me. "Hey, you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just couldn't sleep well last night," I replied with tired smile.

"Bad dream?"

"In a sense...so, how was meditation?"

"Ugh, it stinks."

"Well, it's supposed to be relaxing...but every time I seem to try to meditate I fall asleep."

"A bit too relaxing for you, huh?"

"Heh, it would seem so. Or that I need to learn to readjust when I go to bed."

"Ohh right. You used to be nocturnal."

"And you still sound like you're having a hard time believing any of that. Guess I'm going to have to find some way to convince you of that."

"Someone sounds confident."

"What can I say? I usually find some way of convincing people."

**(Scene Shift)**

"_Darren! Darren! Wake up!"_ Myst's, a water elemental Lycan spirit, shouted in my ear. I groaned in response and pulled the covers over my head. _"Darren, come on! You've gotta get up right now!"_

"Myst, don't you know how late it is? I'm still tired from last night, for crying out loud!" I snapped, trying not to raise my voice too much so as to not wake anyone else up.

"_Well, while you're lying in bed, Korra's gone and snuck off the island."_ That caught my attention of my sleeping mind.

"Wait, what?"

The blue wolf spirit sighed. _"Come on."_

I followed her out once I got some decent clothes on. "I don't get it. Why would she sneak off the island? To get to the city for something?"

Myst rolled her no pupil eyes. _"Man, and I thought Cat was clueless. What do you think is, as she put it, 'a ferry ride away' from here?"_

My mind then clicked everything to place when I realized where Myst was talking about. "Son of a...how did I miss that?"

"_'Cause you're still trying to learn about this whole place. Now, come on. You've got a bit of catching up to do if you want to find her."_

"Swimming...yay..."

**(Scene Shift)**

Sneaking off the island and into the pro-bending arena was fairly easy. Especially when you've already done it for most of your life as a vampire. The only hard part was finding where Korra could have gone. _Okay...uhh...where could she be..?_ I thought, wandering around.

"Won't be a problem. I'm actually an earthbender," I heard Korra say. _Found her._

Once I located where she was, I kept myself quiet as I leaned on the door frame while she revealed she was the Avatar. I decided to let myself be known. "And it also happens to be true that she snuck away in the middle of the night when she was supposed to be asleep," I said aloud.

Korra yelped, turning around. "Oh, hi...Darren. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I _had_ been sleeping peacefully...until a certain spirit decided to wake me out of it." I muttered the last part mostly to myself. "And you? Didn't Tenzin say not to go to these matches?"

"You're not going to tell him, are you?"

"Nope. I'd be getting an earful from Falc and the others about being a hypocrite. I've broken my fair share of rules in the past. Just be sure to bring me along from now on. Someone's gotta make sure you don't get caught."

"Thank you thank you thank you!" She pulled me into a hug.

"Ack, can't breathe!"

"Oh, sorry." She released me.

"Whew...haven't had a bear hug like that in a long while."

**(Scene Shift)**

After some quick introductions, the gym of the arena was the next destination. I declined the training, though, since I liked training on my own terms. Plus, I didn't use it as much as my other combat skills. Maybe when I got more used to it, but for now I'm content with what I can do.

"Not bad," Mako said to Korra after she pulled off the technique.

"What's it take to impress this guy?" she asked Bolin. I bit back a chuckle.

"What? I said not bad." He then shook his head. "You know what, it's getting late. I'm gonna turn in. Nice to meet you, Avatar Korra."

"Yeah, been a real pleasure."

"Play nice, please," I said with a chuckle at the sarcastic tone she spoke with.

"See you upstairs, bro." He walked off.

"Upstairs? You guys live here?"

"Yep, in the attic. It's nothing fancy, but we have some great views," Bolin replied. "So, back to bending. Why don't you throw that combo one more time?"

**(Scene Shift)**

The next day, Korra's airbending training went...really south. She destroyed the gates in frustration, getting into an argument with Tenzin before storming off. Man, the one day I decided to see how her training went and it went _really_ bad.

"_Okay...it's official. We've met someone even scarier than Cathy when she was alive,"_ Falc muttered, eyes bugging out a bit.

"Maybe I should go check on her," I said.

"_Shan, if I remember one thing in all my years of being a spirit guide to one of the most temperamental Lycans in history, it's to let some people have their space to cool off."_

I blinked, staring at him incredulously. "Since when were you smart?!"

"_There are a lot of things you don't know about me."_

**(Scene Shift)**

Later that day, we went back to the pro-bending arena. "I'm going to go to the stands to watch," I told her.

"Okay," Korra replied.

It took me a while to find a decent spot to watch the match. Imagine my surprise when I saw that Korra was in it. _Huh?! Okay, maybe it won't be so bad? I mean, she knows about this sport,_ I thought. Then she was sent to zone three after two fouls. The first one from knocking one of the other team off the side and the other from going over the line. My palm met my face. _So much for that._

Round two started and Korra started becoming the target from the other team. All of a sudden...she used earthbending to block an attack. I groaned. _Crap. There goes the secret. _The referees allowed the match to continue as long as Korra only used waterbending. _This night can't possibly get any worse, right?_

During the second round, she got knocked out of the ring and into the water. I almost had a heart attack when I saw her talking to Tenzin. _Yep, we've been found out. Gonna have a hell of a time trying to explain this._

The final round was going bad at first with the team cornering Mako and Bolin while the rest of the attacks focused on Korra. It looked like it was over...until she started dodging the attacks. She was moving as if through the gates for airbending practice. I smiled a bit. I knew it would click for her eventually.

**(Scene Shift)**

"That was great for your first time in a match," I said after the match and getting back onto the island.

"Thanks. You going to watch us in the tournament?" Korra replied.

"Of course. Wouldn't miss it. I better get to bed. Don't want to be sleeping during the day anymore, right?"

"Alright. See you." We parted ways.

While heading to my room, Falc flew up beside me. He had the same look as a few days ago. "What?"

"_Oh, nothing. It just seemed like you two-"_

"Falc, if you finish that sentence, you're going to wind up being thrown into the ocean. Or in a polar bear dog's stomach."

The spirit pouted. _"You're no fun."_

_**A/N: Hmm...I'm thinking of doing a whole prequel series or series of side stories for this crossover to put in more details of Darren's past for the story. Well, until I make a decision, I'll focus on these. ^^ As far as other short stories, which will be deleted scene stuff or certain scenes not in Darren's point of view, I'll start posting them up once I either get done with chapter five or when I finish the first season.**_


End file.
